Book Review - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell is an incredible book. The characters in its pages are described in great depth, despite the relative brevity of each of their stories and the narrative keeps your attention like the best page turning thriller.

Cloud Atlas is made up of six separate stories which are connected by a variety of threads which show how power and control continue to dog man throughout time. I enjoy stories that are told through interlinking lives, I immediately think of great films like Crash, Short Cuts and Magnolia. Cloud Atlas is easily as absorbing as those films and I eagerly await the release of Cloud Atlas the film this year (it will either be a tragic effort or a masterpiece).

The big difference with this story as opposed to the films I mentioned is the way it is spread over a timespan from nineteenth century to sometime in the distant future. The authors ability to write in such differing but truly authentic styles is brilliant. It is no wonder it was a finalist for the Booker Prize in 2004.

It is certainly a 5 star book and one of the best works of fiction I have ever read.

Have you read Cloud Atlas? What do you think?